MacroMonitor Market Trends Newsletter
June 2015

The MacroMonitor Market Trends Newsletter from Consumer Financial Decisions (CFD) highlights topical news and trends of interest to you and your colleagues.

Households in Which the Household Head or Member of the Household Is LGBT

The US Supreme Court is due to rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage—a right that is now protected in 37 states. Regardless of how the Court rules, acceptance of LGBT status is growing throughout US society— remarkable because much of this change has happened in less than a decade. Over 8 million households have a head who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or Transgender (Other). Nearly 13 million households have a member who identifies as LGBT. In the 2014–15 MacroMonitor, the number of LGBT households has achieved a new high. However, despite the growing awareness and acceptance of LGBT people, a dearth of information exists about LGBT households' financial needs, how their needs differ from those of all US households, what financial products and services work for them, what new products they might need, and how financial institutions should deliver and improve on meeting their needs.

Many LGBT-household differences are predictable, such as their lower proportions of married households and their lower likelihood of dependent children and their higher proportions of cohabiting households. Other differences are somewhat unexpected. For example, LGBT individuals are more likely than average to have a four-year college degree and more likely than all US households to be financially responsible for another adult. Notable is that even though LGBT households have lower income and fewer assets than do all households, they are more confident about achieving their long-term financial goals.

LGBT households are more likely than other households to say seven areas of financial needs are extremely important to them. Three of these areas are protecting against loss of savings or investments or both, providing income if a wage earner becomes disabled, and saving and investing money for use in the distant future. MacroMonitor subscribers may access this information and more through the Segment Summary.

Special Note: An oversample of LGBT households was a part of the 2014–15 MacroMonitor. Subscribers interested in doing additional analysis of this important segment may purchase the LGBT oversample that brings the total number of LGBT households up to 451. For more information please Contact Us.